Wayne Moriarty: Some meaty points on what it takes to go vegan

And not because I’m a crackerjack fan of wordplay. “Meet” being, um, meatless. And not because it has all sorts of yummy vegetarian dishes, which, incidentally, I am not. Vegetarian, that is.

It’s the ginger beer. Meet makes its own ginger beer and it is as divine a beverage as there is in this thirsty town.

I’m hardly the first person to crush on this place. It’s always packed. Going meatless is a trend and Meet does everything right to attract the consumers of this trend.

In a recent poll commissioned by the Vancouver Humane Society, eight per cent of Canadians identify themselves as vegetarian and a beefy 25 per cent say they are eating less meet. Those percentages tick even higher for British Columbians.

November is International Vegan Month. It’s interesting to me that Statistics Canada doesn’t appear to have any data on vegans. Vegans, by definition, don’t eat or use any animal products. They are essentially hardcore vegetarians.

I went to the Vegan Society webpage and took their “Veganalyser,” which told me if I stop consuming all meat products immediately, in the next 20 years, I will have spared the lives of 958 animals, including an astonishing 700 birds.

With apologies to chickens everywhere, I don’t plan on doing this. At least not yet.

Veganism and other nourishing ideas will consume the Vancouver Health Show this weekend at the Convention Centre. One of the keynote speakers on the matters of not eating meat will be Kim Barnouin. Kim is a former model who used to consider ketchup a vegetable. Today she is the vegan co-author of the “Skinny Bitch” franchise of books and DVDs.

I spoke with Kim on the phone this week about food.

“The ‘skinny bitch’ name is not to promote skinniness,” she told me. “The title was for marketing purposes and to get people curious about veganism. Back when I first wrote the book, veganism wasn’t at all mainstream. Some hippies practised it, but not a lot was known about the lifestyle. I wanted it to fit into society better than it was.”

That was 2003. Today it is certainly more mainstream, especially among young people.

I asked Kim if she had concerns about young people, especially women, electing to transition their diet to vegan without properly doing their homework.

“You have to be careful. When I first became a vegetarian, I transitioned into a vegan diet cautiously. I slowly gave up things, but I replaced them with other things. This took time, and it took learning how to cook better and learning what the appropriate nutritional alternatives might be. You can’t live on salad alone. You are not going to last. It’s not healthy. It’s not good for you and there is no way your body is going to let you function for any extended period of time if you don’t take care of all its needs.”

Kim will speak in the east building of the Convention Centre Saturday from 12:55 to 2 p.m.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.